J. Robert Porter ’57

J. Robert Porter ’57 died on April 23 after a 30-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. Son of a wildcatter, Bob came to Dartmouth from Oklahoma with a passion for photography and petroleum. He majored in geology, joined the Camera Club and shot pictures for the Aegis and The Dartmouth. He also participated in the Dormitory Committee, soccer, squash, golf, track, boxing, Winter Carnival, DOC, Young Republicans and ROTC. After earning an M.S. in geochemistry Bob served in the Signal Corp. research lab and then the CIA, where he worked with satellite imaging sensors. A stint as NASA’s earth resources program director led him to form in 1969 Earth Satellite Corp., which he grew into the largest commercial provider of satellite imagery for industrial, agricultural, meteorological and other purposes before selling it in 2002. He also served as chair of the National Academy of Sciences. More recently Bob had continued to exercise what his friends called an “incredible intellectual curiosity” as a novelist, memoirist and essayist, despite the effects of Parkinson’s. Bob made many generous gifts to Dartmouth, including the J. Robert Porter 1957 Earth Science Fund and, through the Porter Family Foundation, a $1 million gift to establish the Porter Family Fund for Sustainability Science. “Dartmouth is where I got my start in life,” wrote Bob. “It taught me to look at the world in new ways and not accept the status quo. I owe it a lot.” Bob is survived by daughters Jennifer and Amy, a sister, four grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.